A man who downloaded hundreds of indecent movie clips of children, some as young as three years old, has been spared jail.

Jeffrey Rae, 59, of Woodysfield, Wimblington, was found to be in possession of nearly 900 illegal movies after police officers searched his computer and hard drives, Cambridge Crown Court was told today (December 1).

He pleaded guilty to four charges of possessing indecent images of children and three of making indecent images of children through downloading.

Rae was handed an eight month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and must join the sex offenders' register for ten years.

Cambridge Crown Court

Prosecutor Michael Procter explained that Rae had been caught after police had received a tip off about his illegal activities, the court heard.

When officers searched Rae's then home on Watermead, Cambridge, on January 7 this year, they found a computer and three hard drives.

Mr Procter said: "The computer was being used to download and make available for sharing on peer to peer networks indecent images of children."

The court heard that a total of 884 movies were found to be in possession of or downloaded by Rae, of which 379 were classified as 'category A' - the most extreme type of content.